# Folio Writer — The Longform Writing Studio > Long-form plain-text writing studio for books and manuscripts on iOS. (iPhone/iPad app by Bin Chen.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/folio-writer/id6788252860 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Bin Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1503463579) - Category: Productivity, Education - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 16.0 · 3 MB - Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified, China), European Spanish - Released: 2026-07-17 - Data updated: 2026-08-21 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/folio-writer/id6788252860/reviews.md ## What is Folio Writer? Folio Writer is a plain-text writing studio for long-form work — scholarly manuscripts, books, and novels. This is its iPhone and iPad companion: the same projects, the same files, in your pocket. Open a project from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or any Files location and pick up exactly where you left off on the Mac. Everything you write is a plain Markdown or Typst file you own, synced through your own cloud — no accounts, no lock-in. WRITE ANYWHERE - A Markdown key bar puts #, *, links, code, and $math$ one tap away — no hunting through the keyboard. - Typewriter scrolling and sentence focus for drafting on the go. - Live word count and writing targets for each document, the whole draft, and each session. - Hardware-keyboard shortcuts on iPad. YOUR WHOLE PROJECT - The full binder: browse, open, rename, reorder by dragging, indent and outdent, and create new documents from templates. - Snapshots you can take, browse, compare, and restore — nothing you write is quietly lost. - Project-wide search across every document, title, synopsis, and note. CITATIONS & PREVIEW - Insert citations from the project's BibTeX files by author, year, or key. - Preview the rendered document — headings, tables, images, and LaTeX math typeset with KaTeX — right on the device. - Preview a single section or assemble the whole manuscript. MADE TO SYNC WITH THE MAC - Opens the exact same .folio projects as Folio Writer for Mac, byte-for-byte. - Automatic, conflict-safe syncing: edits made on two devices merge when they don't overlap, and a losing copy is always preserved and recoverable. - Compiling to PDF and Word stays on the Mac (those tools are desktop-only) — but your writing is always in sync. PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No analytics, no trackers, no accounts. Your manuscripts never leave your own devices except through the cloud service you choose. Folio Writer for Mac is required to compile finished documents. The companion is for writing, organizing, and reviewing your projects wherever you are. ## Key features - Plain-text writing (Markdown, Typst) - iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Files integration - Special Markdown key bar - Typewriter scrolling and sentence focus - Binder for project organization - Snapshots for version control - Project-wide search - BibTeX citation support ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Unlock Pro Features | $39.99 | one-time | ## Frequently asked questions about Folio Writer ### What is Folio Writer? Folio Writer is a plain-text writing studio designed for long-form projects like books and manuscripts. It offers a mobile companion for iPhone and iPad that syncs with projects created on Folio Writer for Mac. ### What file formats does Folio Writer support? Folio Writer primarily uses plain text formats, including Markdown and Typst. All your writing is saved as files you own, ensuring no vendor lock-in. ### How does Folio Writer sync projects? Projects are synced through your chosen cloud service, such as iCloud Drive or Dropbox. The app supports automatic, conflict-safe syncing, merging edits and preserving recoverable copies. ### Can I compile documents on Folio Writer for iOS? No, compiling finished documents to PDF and Word is a desktop-only function and must be done on Folio Writer for Mac. The iOS companion is for writing, organizing, and reviewing. ### Does Folio Writer have ads? No, Folio Writer does not contain advertisements. It is designed with privacy in mind, with no analytics or trackers. ### What are the system requirements for Folio Writer? Folio Writer is available for iPhone and iPad. It requires macOS for full compilation features. The app is rated for ages 4+. ### How often is Folio Writer updated? The latest version, 1.7.0, was released on August 2, 2026. The app is actively maintained, with the release date of the initial version being July 17, 2026. ### What makes Folio Writer private? Folio Writer is private by design, with no analytics, trackers, or accounts required. Your manuscripts only leave your devices through the cloud service you select. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.8.6 — 2026-08-21 A REVIEW INBOX FOR THE FERRY RIDE Every comment and suggested edit across the project, gathered in one inbox — read a chapter on your phone, leave anchored comments, and resolve what's settled. It all syncs back to the Mac's inspector, attributed to you. REORDER THE BINDER BY TOUCH Drag documents into a new order the way every iOS list works — press, lift, drop. Reordering now uses the system's native gesture, so it's reliable in every folder. SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE The companion app's summaries, labels, and inbox read naturally in English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. Plus smaller fixes to syncing and comment anchoring. The iPhone & iPad companion remains completely free. ### 1.8.4 — 2026-08-17 Sync you can trust — and see. This release hardens multi-device writing end to end and brings Folio to six new languages. SYNC, HARDENED - Two devices editing the same project can no longer lose work: stale copies are recognized and refused, structural changes merge field by field, and any edit that would shrink a document preserves the longer text in the conflict archive - Automatic version history: every save lands in a rolling, synced history — File > Browse All Versions shows versions from any device; on iPhone and iPad, Version History with one-tap restore SYNC, FAST - The hours-long iCloud delay is fixed: Folio asks iCloud for updated files every few seconds while you work - Continuous typing reaches the disk at least every four seconds - A quiet sync indicator under the binder shows Saving, Syncing, or Synced — File > Sync Now (Shift-Command-Y) or pull-to-refresh forces the round trip IN YOUR LANGUAGE - The interface, help, tutorial, and release notes now ship in Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, and Spanish EDITOR - Paste images straight into the text — Command-V files the picture into Research and links it at the caret; capture from a nearby iPhone or iPad camera - Chat can answer from your project: local retrieval over the draft and Research (PDFs included), with cited sources - Composition mode backgrounds, and the synopsis field is now a live-markdown editor IPHONE & IPAD - Drag and drop to rearrange the binder and corkboard cards - New documents are created in the draft folder; long-press for New Document After / Inside ### 1.8.3 — 2026-08-10 Folio for iPhone and iPad stays completely free. - Opens projects created with this release with their sections, figures, and notes intact — your manuscript reads the same on every device. - Returns you to your last project the moment you open the app. - Reliability and sync improvements, including cleaner conflict recovery when two devices edit at once. Everything on iOS is free. Compiling, code execution, and the advanced tools live on the Mac. ### 1.8.0 — 2026-08-07 - Reads projects that use this release's analysis scripts and imported documents, with their figures and section markup. - Fixes to syncing and conflict recovery. ### 1.7.0 — 2026-08-02 This release keeps Folio on iPhone and iPad in step with Folio Writer 1.7 for Mac. • Full compatibility with the Mac's new features: pinned and hidden Name Index entries, saved-search collections, and workflow labels all travel with your project — and edits made on iOS preserve them. • The Tufte Book template now survives real-world metadata (author affiliations, italics in a title, a subtitle footnote), so projects started on iOS compile cleanly on the Mac. • Sync and reliability improvements from the shared project engine. ## More apps by Bin Chen - [Focusin Pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focusin-pro/id6779916084) All apps by Bin Chen: https://appshunter.io/developer/1503463579 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-21.*